FRILLS FADS & FOIBLES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 313, 26 March 1928, Page 5

FRILLS FADS & FOIBLES

f Mundane Musings

Do You Know Her ?

It would be grossly unfair to call her selfish, but she is constitutionally unable to view a situation from the other person’s point of view. Even so, it is not in the big spiritual and elemental things that this selfcentredness betrays itself, but only in the little, mechanical interchanges which, despite their triviality, yet bulk large in one’s purview because they happen every hour of the day. Here are some examples of. the kind of thing I mean. , In the drawing room she will hand a plate and a cup and saucer to a onearmed man, and even when he takes the plate and lays it down and then returns for the cup and saucer, she will hardly be aware that she has done something gauche! At a picnic she will hand you a kettle of boiling water or a hot teapot, grasping it with the whole of the handle. You say as politely as you can, “Would you mind laying it down, and then I shall be able to pick it up?” And her eyes will show a mild astonishment as she complies. She will wait for you to open a door for her, and stand quite close to it. right in the area through which the opening door must swing. If you are sitting on her right at the theatre, she will hand you the opera glasses with her right hand, so that only by an acrobatic contortion can you grasp them, and then only by smearing the lenses with your fingers in the awkward transit. In the street, when you are carrying a suitcase, she will walk so far across the pavement that you at the edge have not room to clear the trees and lamp-posts which line the curb. At each of these obstacles you stop, sidestep, and pass behind her, and yet she will never realise how these halts increase the pull of that suitcase upon your shoulder muscles. When entering a taxi, she will plump down into the seat nearest her, and if you are a tall man, you will crouch in the narrow doorspace, and with infinite difficulty will climb past her over her legs to the further seat, exercising all your agility to avoid trampling on her dainty shoes amid the lurches of the starting vehicle. When being piloted across a busy street in the rain, she will suddenly slant her umbrella in such a way as to mask your view of the oncoming traffic, and your business of seeing your precious cargo safely on the further pavement becomes one of blind hazard, as you crane beneath or beyond the spread of umbrella in a frenzied endeavour to see where you are. In a bus on a windy day she will hold out a flat palm to receive her ticket from the conductor, thereby increasing tenfold the task of the longsuffering official in delivering the ticket safely into her keeping. No doubt in the big things of experience she would prove great and self-sacrificing; but workaday life is made up of little things, and the person who is unable to “get inside the skin” of the other person is a centre of endless, if hidden, exasperation.

After cooking rice place the strained grains over a saucepan to steam. This separates the grains and gives them an inviting appearance. An onion, eaten either plain or grated with a dash of vinegar and salt and pepper, will ensure a sound sleep, especially after a. strenuous journey or hard day. Buttonholes, particularly on material which ravels easily, can be best worked by marking with a soft pencil the size of the holes required and working them before cutting out. A sharp pen-knife is better for cutting than scissors.

"WATCH YOUR STEP” j BALLROOM SUPERSTITIONS i There are a host of signs and omens 1 that belong exclusively to the ballroom, \ so it would seem that good luck and | bad luck pursue us even there. If by chance you leave your vanity bag, handkerchief or fan in the cloakroom you must not on any account return for it until you have first danced with a dark man. And never dance with a red-haired man unless you have a piece of silver with you, either worn as a trinket or carried with you in a bag. A sixpence will do. It is deemed terribly bad luck if you fail to observe this superstition. It is not known how a man is affected if he dances with a red-haired girl, and fails to carry a piece of silver, but if two red-haired people dance together the spell is broken and neither need carry out this seemingly trifling rite. For a black cat to walk across a ballroom floor foretells good luck for the first to espy it; but for a dog to sti'ay into the room is most unlucky for all concerned, unless he remains until the end of whatever dance is in progress or about to be played when he comes in. Of course, everyone knows that it is a breach of etiquette to dance round a ballroom any way other than the way of the clock. It creates a great deal of confusion, entails many buffets for the offending couple, and spoils the pleasure of dancing for others. But it is also said that the couple who err in this direction court trouble; among other ills, they will suffer a loss of money. Beware of asking the time during a dance, for this is very unlucky, but to wind a watch at midnight is said to indicate that a stroke of good fortune is at hand. Stumbling in a ballroom is also considered unlucky, and to mention the words “bluebell” or “blackbird” means a disappointment ahead. The wearing of real flowers in the ballroom is deemd to bring ill-luck in its train—as is also the belief when real flowers are worn or introduced on the stage —unless the stems of these are first steeped in milk, and even then real flowers should not be parted with until after a dance, if their wearer would retain his or her luck. And these are only a few of the pitfalls in the path of the unwary dancer! FINISHING TOUCHES AS OTHERS SEE US We can never know what we really look like to others, but we can be pretty certain of creating a good impression if we cultivate good manners in dress and speech. Appearance counts such a lot, both in business and social life, and it isn’t so much what we wear, as how we wear it! So let your clothes-brush be your best friend, and brush your clothes and hats as regularly as you brush your teeth; let benzine or petrol chase away all spots and stains the moment they appear; and let soap and water make you conspicuous for the daily daintiness of your collars and cuffs. Search your stockings for splashes md see that your shoe-heels are not worn down. A tiny dab of soap will stop that Jacob’s ladder in your silk stocking from stretching to unmendable dimensions, until you’ve time to p.ttend to it. And did you know that silk stockings should be washed after every time they’re worn, if you want them to last? Perspiration perishes them much sooner than hard wearing. Shingles, of course, must be glossy, but watch your coat-frock collars and your jumpers for stray hairs and (let me whisper it!) —dandruff. Resolve to make better use of your hand-mirror. Keep your office frock for the office, and don’t wear your outdoor skirts indoors, unless you have two to a coat—which is a very useful idea.